Seoul, Sep 2
Consumer inflation is projected to rebound to around 2 per cent in September as the temporary factors behind last month's slowdown dissipate, the central bank here said on Tuesday.
Bank of Korea (BOK) Deputy Governor Kim Woong made the assessment during a meeting to review inflationary trends, as government data showed that consumer prices gained 1.7 percent from a year earlier in August, logging the slowest growth in nine months, reports news agency.
"Though heavy rains and heat waves drove up prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products, mobile phone charges fell sharply, pulling down last month's inflation by 0.6 percentage point," Kim said.
"Consumer prices are expected to rise to around 2 percent again this month, as such temporary downward factors disappear. Inflation is expected to stay around 2 percent for the time being, given weak demand and stable global oil prices," he added.